Sunday, 16 October 2016

Me as an Amanuensis: Morning Devotional's Next Level?

Looking for something a little different for your early
morning devotions? I may have an idea for you.

Years ago I remember working with a guy who had an
interesting hobby, if I can call it that, of creating a handwritten copy of the
entire New Testament. “Hobby” is maybe the wrong word. Regardless, his intent
was to make a present of his personally handwritten New Testament to his child
at his upcoming high school graduation.

Apparently this wasn’t the first time
he did something like this; he had already done the same thing for another of
his children and he planned on doing so for them all. If memory serves me
correctly, he said he had four kids. Assuming he stuck with the task, that
means four handwritten copies of the entire New Testament. I remember thinking,
“How cool is that; not your typical grad present from Dad!”

I had forgotten about that until this past Thanksgiving when
my son shared that he had undertaken a similar venture as a part of his early
morning devotions. With a copy of his Greek Interlinear KJV/NIV Parallel New
Testament (Yes, I can proudly say that my son is also a New Testament Greek
scholar), he was handwriting the New Testament for himself. At the time he
shared this with me, he was nearing the end of the Synoptic Gospels. Wow!

All of this got me thinking of how easy it is to get into a
devotional rut (Lord knows, I’m there too) and that maybe I should consider doing
likewise. So, after purchasing a nice faux-leather journal from Chapters, I dusted off my own Greek Interlinear KJV/NIV Parallel New Testament off the shelf, and
got to work. At the time of this writing, I’ve only just completed the second
chapter of Matthew, but I’m in no hurry. Conspicuously absent from my version
is the lack of chapter and verse. I am, however, including the sectional
headings as supplied by the translation I am copying. As an aside, perhaps this
will help polish my own rusty Greek. Hmm.

The thing I noticed right off the bat was how this exercise
was almost like reading the Scriptures again for the very first time. How so,
you might ask? Well, unlike simply reading the Bible, reading it with the
intent of copying it word for word requires a more careful and slower reading.
This in turn has the added benefit of producing a deeper thought, and by
default, study.

So, like the amanuensis of old who was employed to copy a
manuscript by hand, and usually by dictation, welcome to my new (hopefully) daily
5:00am devotional routine. I’m looking forward to the exercise and to hearing
what God may say through it along the way.

So here’s to trying something new. Who knows, it may be just
the ticket to also kick-starting my blogging in a whole new direction. Peace
and Blessings to you and yours, from a fellow sojourner in Christ.

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